Islamic Jihad urges all Palestinian groups to kidnap Israeli soldiers

    The military wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement on Saturday called on all armed Palestinian groups to kidnap Israeli soldiers. "Capturing Israeli soldiers is an open option for all military wings of the Palestinian factions," the al-Quds Brigades of the Islamic Jihad movement said in a statement. The statement referred to a prisoner exchange that took place in July between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group, in which Israel released five Lebanese prisoners in exchange for the remains of two Israeli soldiers captured in July 2006, saying such swaps "proved their effectiveness in forcing the Israeli governments to respond to the captors' demands." The statement also praised the abduction of Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006 by Hamas and two other Palestinian groups, saying that the operation was "clear evidence that the resistance groups are able to free the more than 11,000 prisoners Israel holds." (16,30)